The original Native people of Yosemite were Paiutes. Miwoks were the scouts for the Mariposa Battalion and workers for the gold miners. Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Paiute Colony of Ahwahnee, he spoke a Paiute Jargon and after the death of his and his band the surviviors of Tenaya’s band were taken back to Mono Lake and absorbed into the Mono Lake Paiute populatin where Chief Tenaya was born. Tenaya means our father in Paiute. In olden times Miwoks were the enemies of the Paiute people and feared them. They were afraid to enter Yosemite and called Tenaya’s band “Yosemite” which in the Southern Sierra Miwuk language means “They are Killers” or “The Killers”. Miwoks came in later with military after the Paiutes were cleared out and stayed, but they are not the original Indians of Yosemite.

My Newest Book On Student Motivation!

My Second Book On Teaching ELLs

My book, "The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools, and Activities for Teaching English Language Learners of All Levels," (co-authored by Katie Hull Sypnieski) was published in the Summer of 2012